How ? They inject some viagra inside ?
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Wonderful to hear that, Nigel. The brain’s power to compensate for sub-optimal hearing is just incredible, and I am so glad you are benefiting from this wonder.
At least you know what you would have been giving up if you had decided to downgrade further, and that appears to be a step too far for you at this time. So it appears you can appreciate the full glory of your NDX2 and SN3, which must be very reassuring for you.
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It would be interesting to know how old the Nova was you were testing. To relate my own experience with the Nova might be of interest. Straight out of the box it didn’t sound too bad. But on the third day the bass disappeared almost completely! So bad was it that I thought I must have broken it. Or perhaps wired the speakers out of phase without noticing it. But upon checking everything seemed to be set up OK. I was planning to take it back to the shop. But over the next few day and, indeed, weeks the bass gradually returned. After a month not only was the bass back but the whole sound had improved dramatically. I have NEVER had any piece of hi fi equipment where the sound changed so much as it ran in. I have never heard the NDX2/SN3 combo to compare it to. But I certainly wouldn’t describe the sound of the Nova as anaemic or bass light. (Except perhaps at very low late night volumes. I tend to blame the speakers for this more than the Nova though.)
PS. Sorry HH I now see you have already answered my question!
I’m sure people will find your post useful. Unfortunately it didn’t apply in this case, otherwise I might have been advertising my NDX2 and SN3 for sale, rather than taking the Nova back to the shop.
I actually went from the superuniti to a SN3/ND XS2 and I found it to be a massive upgrade sound wise - which I wasn’t expecting - I was just sick of the SUniti dropping streams.
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Something to do with the way the nuts are tightened
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Depends when you bought it , mine wobbles
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I did exactly the same, with the same outcome.
I’ve since added a KEF sub to the set up, and that works superbly well with the Nova and my Pro Ac fronts.
That said, like many here, I have often pondered the SQ merits of SN3 and NDX2. Though as yet, it’s not something I’ve either actively pursued or ruled out.
I love the Nova, ergonomically, aesthetically and crucially, sonically.
Though I’m in a big vinyl phase at the moment, I would still wish to have a nice screen for streaming playback. Is the NDX2’s display smaller but similar to the Nova?
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Very similar display. The SN3 has a very good phono stage which may be of interest for your vinyl phase.
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If you are in a vinyl phase, the SN3 makes so much more sense. It keeps everything analogue, rather than converting to digital and back to analogue.
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Or would an SN2 make more sense for me as I have a good phono stage already?
(The Vertere Phono 1)
Both have got the crucial (imo) DR tech feeding the preamp.
If you can bear the redundancy of the SN3’s MM phonostage (given your Vertere stage), the SN3 may repay you by giving you far longer before a service than a SN2.
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That’s one bit that niggles me and prompts the thought of change. Not heard a SN3 but as you say HH this keeps everything analogue from the turntable. I do wonder how much the sound would change from being digitised through the Nova. Maybe someone can enlighten us further although you have already explained how your system changed.
The Nova is still a lovely unit though and rightly has a good number of fans.
Whichever, though the SN3 is a better amplifier all round.
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skl posted: “I have the impression that the Nova is very picky when it comes to the cables and speakers used.”
I dealer demoed a Nova into Graham Audio BBC LS5/9 speakers (similar I believe to Harbeth 30.1 or Rogers ls5/9) and was very impressed. The combo produced a very enjoyable, detailed and warm sq and certainly felt like it had pressurised the circa 300sqft. room. By comparison on a separate short listen in the same room with an ndx2 into an sn3 into Elac floorstanders set up for a customer demo I could not hear anything like the same level of sq.
My takeaway from discussing this with the dealer was twofold one speaker synergy is incredibly important and two I clearly liked the sound of the Grahams.
Kudos to Hungryhalibut for the well presented post🙂
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@anon4489532 Nigel you know my view that the Nova is excellent, I’ve heard with Neat Iotas, Kudos 505/606 and Sopra 2s, always great BUT a NDX2/SN it will never be. Plus aren’t you just really enjoying your Bluenote vinyl? Converting to digital, I’m sorry sacrilege!
So glad that despite everything with your hearing you CAN differentiate.
Regards,
Lindsay
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This seem like a very unjustified statement, especially coming from a trade member. I can’t believe it could have been in Julian Vereker’s optics to design a cheap short lived amplifier.
My 30+ years old Nait2 work like a charm and can show a thing or two compared to my 82/250.
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Agreed. The Nait was a very well designed amplifier that when operating within sensible parameters was an amazing sounding amp.
I bought one (Olive) brand new and sold it a few years later to my cousin who still has it. I’ve tried to buy it back but to no avail 
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Some are simply adept at talking complete and utter bollocks.
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Hmm, @frenchrooster ’s viagra won’t help your nuts. I fear your precious pride will remain wobbly…
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